A healthy sales funnel is dynamic, like a healthy body or ecosystem. Movement is crucial—new leads should be regularly added, and prospects should either move closer to a buying decision or be removed. A stagnant funnel signals trouble. To maintain a healthy sales pipeline, leads should progress: some should convert into clients, others should be moved back to the target list, and some should be disqualified.
The shape of a sales funnel resembles a tornado, wide at the top and tapering to a narrow tip. This shape illustrates that you need many prospects to pursue, but at any point, only a small percentage will likely become clients. All the names in your funnel should be active with someone on your sales team.
Understanding the distinction between a target list and a sales funnel is essential.
Target List: This isa list of prospects you've identified as potential clients who meet your definition of a good prospect. To your knowledge, they aren’t actively looking for a new partner/supplier.
Sales Funnel: Prospects in the sales funnel are actively engaged, taking your meetings, and evaluating your service offering. They’ve interacted with your company within the last 90days, and there’s a planned follow-up activity. If a prospect has gone cold or hasn’t been contacted recently, they should be moved back to the target list.
A sales funnel isn’t where leads go to die—it requires discipline to remove prospects who are no longer actively engaged.
1. Finding New Leads: One of the most challenging aspects of maintaining a healthy funnel is continually identifying new prospects. This requires continual proactive outreach, referrals, SEO, website visits, and thought leadership activities like webinars or article publishing. Businesses must expand their reach beyond their known target; otherwise, they risk limiting their growth potential. To grow your target list, you must reach new audiences. For example, if you offer tax services to high-net-worth individuals, you could write an article on the pros and cons of fractional aircraft ownership to attract attention from that market. Distributing this article to publications like Smart Money, The Wall Street Journal, or even niche high-end magazines can introduce your services to new prospects.
Attracting fresh leads is critical because it is the lifeblood of a healthy funnel.
2. Being Honest About Prospects' Intentions: Another challenge is being realistic about whether a prospect is genuinely interested. To keep your pipeline as a productive sales tool, you must quickly determine if a lead is actively engaged or just kicking the tires. If they aren’t ready to buy or don’t have decision-making power, it’s better to find out sooner rather than later. While many salespeople shy away from getting a “no,” it’s often the best outcome if the prospect isn’t viable. A quick “no” allows you to refocus on better prospects.
Action Steps for the Next 60 Days
To ensure your sales funnel remains healthy, focus on these key actions:
1. Expand Your Reach: Find ways to target new audiences. Use thought leadership, content marketing, or partnerships to attract prospects you haven’t previously engaged.
2. Clean Up the Funnel: Move any names that haven’t shown activity in the last 90 days to the target list.
3. Measure Success: Calculate the percentage of new clients as a ratio of your total funnel size. This will help you establish benchmarks and set goals for future growth.
4. Close Deals: Work with your team to identify two prospects that can be closed within the next 30 days. Offer any support needed to make this happen, whether it’s a personal meeting, a sales strategy review, or finding a referral partner.
By taking these steps, you can keep your sales funnel active, healthy, and primed for success. If you have questions, let’s set up a free 15-minute consultation. I’d love to hear how it all works out!
— Jeff Antaya, XP Marketing Lead and author of Don’t Ride a Dinosaur into Your Battle for New Clients
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